Where are out bobbies?

A Chorley village has asked police chiefs where its boys in blue have gone.

Coppull Parish Council is sending a letter to Chorley’s police bosses claiming the police are hardly seen in the village any more.

The issue was brought up at the parish council’s latest meeting on Wednesday night.

Parish councillor Ken Ball, who raised the issue, said: “I have always been a great supporter of the police in Coppull.

“But in the last nine or 12 months, there has been a lack of police presence in the village, and we are writing to them.

“To be honest, it’s a bit of a subject we don’t like broaching because we’ve had a very good relationship with them.

“But for some reason, whether it’s spread to thin now, or a change of work patterns, whether they are working in Chorley, we don’t seem to have had a good presence in the village.”

Coun Ball highlighted one instance where police could have prevented nuisance and vandalism had they been around.

He said picnic tables placed in Springfield Leisure Park at the beginning of the year had either been wrecked or set on fire by youths in the village.

“We used to have a regular presence in there with police talking to the youths,” said Coun Ball.

“When we tackled the police, they didn’t seem to know we had a problem on there, but everybody else knows we have a problem

“We wrote to them and brought it up at PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings.”

Coun Ball said he was confident if a major policing problem arose in Coppull, that officers from Chorley would immediately be on the scene – but that as regards community-related issues such as anti-social behaviour, it was disconcerting.

“It is when we’ve always had a decent relationship with them,” he said.

“We are just trying to find out what’s happening.”

He said he hardly saw the community beat manager now, when they were regularly around before

“We wonder whether the area is too big now, or the police have cut back?” he asked.

Insp David Robinson, at Chorley Police, said: “While it’s true to say that we will have slightly fewer police officers in the neighbourhood policing team in Coppull as a result of the changes we are having to make in order to find savings, it is important to reassure the public that these areas are part of the wider Chorley neighbourhood police team.

“So if there is an issue with resilience, or if there is an emerging problem in one of the areas, then other members of that team will move across to assist their colleagues.

“These areas will also remain fully covered by our response officers, who are the officers that deal with 999 calls.

“The constabulary remains committed to neighbourhood policing as the foundation of its policing style and is clear the new model must continue to serve the public well while being affordable.”